Even
less is known of this model, except that it was in production before World
War II. Sir Alec Spagthorpe met his death
while operating a Dalmatian, though the tragic accident was due in no part
to the machine in question.

I recently took my latest acquisition, a beautifully restored late model
Spagthorpe Dalmatian, in to a local mechanic to have the starter mechanism
looked at; although the bike was amazingly functional when I bought it, I
frequently have a difficult time starting it. After extensive reference to
a couple of dogeared manuals, the mechanic, with a somewhat bemused
expression, explained to me that it was not my imagination that the bike
wouldn’t start if anyone was looking at it—the bike’s magneto was in fact
of the (fortunately) rare Lucas-Heisenberg type.

It is now known that Werner Heisenberg worked with the Nazi government on
the creation of nuclear weapons not out of sympathy with their aims but in
order to delay and perhaps sabotage the program, a goal he apparently
accomplished. What is less well known is that during the same time he also
worked as a consultant to BMW, where he designed, among other things, the
abovementioned magneto. Unfortunately his similar intent was not discerned
by the British industrial spies who made off with the design, which turned
up later in a couple of Spagthorpe models of that period. Spagthorpe
engineers soon discovered the drawbacks of the purloined German mechanisms
and ceased using them, unlike BMW, which continues to incorporate some of
Heisenberg’s inventions in their machines to this day.

Keith says there’s a little known model created by Spagthorpe and
Hurley-Pugh in collaboration, called a Spugh.…